Blaine the Butcher, or maybe we should call him the Mayor now, was looking around the butcher shop. While he was poking around, I looked through the many pop-ups. Some of them were quests for building structures for the village and the new populace.

The rest was a bunch of notifications of earned Village Points. To settlements, they were like Skill Points was to a character. A settlement needed a certain amount of VPs to level up. The easiest way to gain VPs was to recruit Natives to join the settlement and complete their quests. However, if they got unsatisfied and left, or died, the VPs they represented would vanish, making it possible for a settlement to delevel.

I had the system coalesce the pop-ups into a single report.

24 Natives have joined your Village.

9 Beginner Tiered Natives awards 9 Village Points

12 Apprentice Tiered Natives awards 24 Village Points

2 Journeyman Tiered Natives awards 8 Village Points

1 Master Tiered Native awards 8 Village Points

Progress to Village Level 1: 49/100 VPs

Halfway there, not too shabby. We would gain more points from ensuring the Lord’s men and the AA had their buildings. The other major revenue of gaining VP was making sure that Happiness, Safety, and other parameters were fulfilled.

“This will do for now,” Blaine said after having looked it over.

“I hope it will, we’re still pretty far from getting that other blueprint built,” I replied with a chuckle.

“That will be a great day,” Blaine said wistfully. “To see something the Ancients designed built is a major dream of anyone in Carn.”

“One day, we’ll make it happen,” I said in a low voice. We had so many things we needed to do, and not enough time. “Anyway, I wanted to thank you. Thank you for convincing so many people to brave the wild and join us.”

“It was the Boon we owed you,” he said with a shrug. “It did not hurt that what you offered was very kind. Especially the offer to buy all their properties at the current standard price.”

“I hope they agreed to give us until the end of next month before we had to pay,” I said with a smile. I knew they had. Mozart had informed us at the last break that we had already gotten the deeds, and that he had made a binding agreement for the guild to pay them.

“Of course they did, you’ve proven to be an honourable man.”

“Thanks,” I mumbled. There were ulterior motives with buying the houses and land. Mozart would try to convince the different families still living there to move to other houses so that we would have large blocks of connected land. The plan was to build cheap lodging for players and more shops.

When the influx of displaced players happened in my last life, there were not enough places for people to sleep. This had led to a lot of friction between players and NPCs, and a lot of rampant player killings for loot. More importantly, it had driven the prices of land through the sky. I was not going to turn around and sell it to players though because that would be cheating the NPCs. They might not care, but I would feel bad about it.

“Anyway, there’s someone who’s dying to talk with me,” I commented.

Blaine chuckled. “You mean the pretty one that is staring daggers at you?”

“These days, there are too many of them,” I grumbled.

“Ah, to be young and foolish,” the man said and laughed heartily. I just groaned and made my way over to the scowling Hannah.

“Hello Hannah, it’s good to see you,” I said with what I hoped was a friendly smile, but I was rather nervous about this conversation.

“That’s not what you said last time we met,” she replied with a frown. Her anger was almost palpable.

I sighed. “Could we take a walk, to somewhere a little less public.”

“What, so you can silence me?” she challenged.

“Wouldn’t work, I can’t hurt your reporter account,” I replied with a laugh. “Listen, I’ll explain everything, I’d just prefer not to have a private discussion in the middle of the town.”

“You forget I can create a bubble of silence around me, so I can interview people without interruption in secret.”

“I did not forget, I just think another location for a talk would be nice. How about the gazebo?”

“Fine, but you owe me a really good explanation,” she said with a huff.

“I don’t know if it’s good, but it’ll be the truth,” I said and led the way to the gazebo.

“Okay Mister, spill the beans. Why the fuck did you act like a jerk?” Hannah demanded as soon as we had sat down.

“It wasn’t me—” I interrupted.

She let out a harsh laugh, interrupting me. “Right, it was your evil twin.”

I cringed a bit. “My girlfriend.”

“Right, I’m out of here,” she harrumphed and stood up.

“Hannah, stop. I’m telling you the truth. Mia—”

“Mia?” she asked, surprised. “You’re together with Mia? When did that happen? What about—”

She stopped herself. Her voice betrayed her confusion and some indignation. I was not really sure why.

“Yes, she was jealous, thought you had designs on me or something.”

“Why did you not contact me when you found out?”

I hesitated for a moment. “I just found out a couple of days ago. It was not the only fire I had to put out. I was also not sure how to broach the subject.”

“Okay, tell me what exactly happened?” she demanded, sitting down again.

I did, and when I finished, Hannah looked at me like I was an idiot. “After all that you didn’t kick Mia out? You’re still interested in dating her?”

I shrugged. “What she did was bad, but nothing irreparable. We’ll take it slow, and she can work to regain my trust. We’ll see where it goes from here.”

“You might forgive her, but I won’t!” Hannah said, crossing her arms, which pushed her assets up and on display. I steeled my will and kept my eyes on hers. “She ruined a lot of breaking stories I could have made. She ruined a chance for you to answer back on all the accusations made by Marcus and Dawnguard.”

“You’re right, but lowering ourselves to their level would not help anyone,” I pointed out. My eyes narrowed a bit at the last part she said. It made some information suddenly fit together. Information I had gotten in the past weeks. “To be frank, right now we don’t need the publicity. I’m sorry that your business was hurt.”

“Don’t need publicity?” she asked, sounding shocked. “Why wouldn’t you want publicity, gain more members?”

“Because I’m not thinking about this as a normal game. There’s a reason why I’ve only accepted two players that I did not hire before they entered the game,” I countered. “This is a long game we’re playing. Not one game, but three games, all part of something bigger. A chance to gain the majority to repeal the stupid laws that put people in coffins.”

“Ken Masters doesn’t have the votes.”

“Not yet, but look at the stock prices. They’ve been soaring ever since Carn was released, more so since his announcement,” I countered. “In just eighteen days, the share of votes he controls has risen by zero point one percentage point. Do you think that people will invest less in this game over the coming two to three years?”

She got a thoughtful look. “You knew about this.”

“I said I would tell you the truth. So yes, but I won’t tell you why.”

Hannah shot to her feet. “Omission is lying!”

“No, I’m stating the truth. I won’t tell you how I knew, because I’m afraid you won’t believe me. And to protect you,” I said.

“It’s illegal?” she asked excitedly.

I shook my head. “No.”

“You’ve to give me something!”

“I predict that within the year, Masters will be dead, the stocks will take a dive for a day or two. Then the frenzy will start. Since Masters can’t vote while dead, his votes are invalid, so the other companies will not hesitate pouring resources into the games and try to win them. When the last game is over, the one who controls the majority of Perennial’s stocks will also control enough votes to pass any law he or she wants,” I told her with a serious face.

“You’re kidding,” she said with a laugh, which faltered. She looked at me. “Right? You’re kidding, right?”

Again I shook my head. “This is the truth as I see it. This is how I predict things will go.”

“You’re crazy,” she said and started pacing. “How would you know that?”

“I can’t tell you.”

“Argh, you’ve to give me something, otherwise I’ll just think you’re a crackpot.”

I gave her a smile. “I might just be that.”

“No, you’re not,” she said with narrowed eyes staring daggers at me.

“Back to Mia,” I said.

“What’s there to talk about? She’s a bitch, and she’ll ruin your relationship with the one media outlet that is not after you,” Hannah said with a huff.

“I’ll have her come over and apologize for you.”

“Not going to change anything. Never going to forgive her for being such a conniving bitch.”

I sighed. “If I give you something juicy, something that will make you a star, will you at least accept her apology?”

“I’m already a star.”

“Yes Hannah, you’re a star, no doubt about it. However, because of how you were utilized in your former job, you’re famous for your looks and personality—” I started when she stopped pacing and stared angrily at me again. “—but you don’t have a lot of credibility as an investigative journalist. You’re famous for the fluff pieces.”

“Who says I want to be an investigative journalist?” she asked in a huff.

“Because I’ve seen the pieces you’ve made after you went solo. It’s not what the fans were used to. You’re being ignored by the big game studios for more serious interviews, as well as the companies. Am I right?”

She looked like she was going to deny it, but then deflated a bit. “So what do you suggest?”

“The semi-official investigation you’re helping Ben with for exclusive rights, has hit a dead end, right?” I asked, observing her closely.

She was good, I’ll give her that. There was that small quick intake of breath, then a second without her breathing, before she resumed. She cocked her head to the side, her eyes opened a little too wide and long in confusion. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Tell Ben that the next time he wants to secretly look into me and my relationship with different people, including you, he should not include his family.”

“They told you?” she asked softly.

I shook my head. “No, but they suddenly started asking a lot of questions about Marcus and my relation to him. A relation most people don’t know about. Those that did, reported the questions to me. Then they suddenly wanted to know all about interactions between the two of us. You knew that it was Marcus that’s behind the smear campaign, not Dawnguard as a whole. Putting two and two together I got that you’re working with Ben, digging out information on Marcus and me.”

“So what if we do? You know a lot,” she said defensively. “How did you know there was a semi-official investigation?”

“If it had been official, I would have been brought in for questioning, instead of Ben having his family snooping around. So it has to be an investigation that has been okayed by his bosses, but not one that has been put into the system yet.”

She looked thoughtful. “He could investigate you off the books. And how do you know about the exclusive rights?”

“I took a guess on that one, and any semi-competent reporter helping an investigation would require exclusive rights,” I replied with a wink. “And you’re a very competent one.”

“You’re infuriating. But it doesn’t tell me why I should accept Mia’s apology."

“I can give you root access to Dawnguard’s server. You’ll find that they’ve started negotiating with Silvertech about handing over any shares in Perennial they win. Including the voting rights of any people, they swindle into supporting them.”

“What?!” she exclaimed.

“Yup, Dawnguard is making a deal doing exactly what they accuse Blue Lotus of doing.”

“How do you know?” she said. I just responded with a wink. “Let me guess, you can’t really say?”

“Spot on, Miss Vixen,” I replied with a grin.

“So what if we gain access, if we hack their system, we can’t use it.”

“You’re right, the police can’t. However, I’ve Aragoth’s login and password. If you’re careful, it should not raise any alarms. It’ll be untraceable. And as a reporter, you’re not obligated to reveal your source, unless it’s about bioweapons.”

“So I can see and release the information legally, just claim that it was delivered by a source,” she said. “In a way it was. I need to know if the password was gained illegally?”

“Exactly, and no it wasn’t. Aragoth once gave it to me himself. He just never changed it afterwards,” I replied and stood up. She opened her mouth to ask another question most likely, but I stopped her by holding my hand up. “Now, I’ll call over Mia, when you’ve heard her apology, the login and code are yours.”

She looked speculative for a moment. “What do you gain from this?”

“Tarnishing their reputation,” I replied and sent the Message to Mia. I looked at Hannah. “It will matter little in the long run for me and the guild, but for you, it’ll be a great boost. If you’re lucky you might find something about Marcus as well.”

“You’re trying to bribe me, in order to get me to forgive your girlfriend?”

“That would be pointless. All I want is to give her a chance to apologize.”

“Does she even regret what she did?”

I cringed at that accusation. “Most likely not, but if we don’t give her a chance to do it, how can we change her outlook on the world?”

Hannah looked at me with pity. “You poor man, you’re an optimist, aren’t you?”

“I guess,” I replied with a shrug. “I believe everyone can change if they want. Sometimes they just need to be shown the way first. If you don’t give them a chance, how can they change? I expect most to fail, but I still hope to be pleasantly surprised.”

“Poor man,” she muttered, before looking back at me. “Fine, I’ll hear her apology, I’ll maybe even accept it. However, I won’t forget.”

“Forgetting the past is how mistakes are repeated,” I countered. “Forgiving and learning from the past is how we continue to grow as human beings.”

“Wow, you’re quite sappy aren’t you,” she asked.

I shrugged. “I’ll call Mia now and let you two have a talk. I’ve to prepare dinner for everyone. I’m yours to interview all you like afterwards. I’ve also added a special exception to you, you can contact any members of the guild you want directly. Including me.”

“What happened to forgiveness to grow as a human being?” she challenged with a teasing tone.

“Forgiveness is earned over time with words and deeds, we should really strive to forgive people. However, I also said to learn from the past. She has not earned back the trust yet, and despite you trying to appear as an unbiased journalist, you’re also a friend as well."

I rose before she could reply and left the gazebo. The rest was up to the two women. I had dinner for around two hundred people to make.

“This almost feels like the old days,” Blaze said as he blasted a troglodyte in the face.

“Not quite, but almost,” One-Eye laughed as he shield-bashed two troglodytes to the ground, just for Kira and Hei to pounce them, raining blows down on them before they could recover.

“It feels good being back together, just the six—I mean the eight of us,” Robin agreed.

Marion turned with a huff to look at the archer. “Did you just forget your girlfriend?”

“Of course not,” Robin said quickly, firing off another arrow, finishing the troglodyte Blaze had blasted.

“But you forgot me,” Hei said, appearing just behind Robin, making her jump in fright.

“Stop doing that,” she complained.

“I know the troglodytes are only level thirty, and all of us out level them handily, but take it seriously,” Ed said sternly, summoning an earth element to intercept a stealthy troglodyte who had almost snuck up on Blaze.”

I looked around at the seven people escorting me through the mine. It was the seven people who knew my secret. Blaze was right, it was almost like old days. Speaking of Blaze, I had to thank him. As we made our way over to the next section with monsters, I stopped him for a second.

“Blaze, I wanted to thank you for telling me about Rose asking a lot of questions. I know she’s your girlfriend—” I started.

He held up a hand and interrupted me, “I did not tell you because I wanted to. I did because she asked me to.”

“What?”

“She told me what was going on, and asked me to tell it to you. In light of that, I think we should bring her into the inner circle. She’s trustworthy.”

I was a little stunned by that information. Blaze continued, “I don’t feel like lying to her. She’s curious about what really goes on, but I can’t tell her.”

“Did she really ask you to reveal Ben’s inquiries?” I asked, mind whirling.

“Yes, she’s loyal. She believes in you,” Blaze said with conviction.

“Okay, we’ll tell her later,” I said after a minute of contemplation.

“Are you guys coming?” Robin called back from up ahead. “We just cleared the last monsters. All that is left are the two projections.”

“I’ll be right there,” I called back and made my way over to the rest of the group, with Blaze at my side. I was starting to get nervous.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Robin asked.

“No, but I’ve to test if our hypothesis is correct. If this dungeon is really connected to my time travel, then it should let me go in without any hindrance. I’m afraid if I take others with me, it won’t activate,” I said, trying to appear calm. I added weakly, “The worst that will happen if we’re wrong is that I will lose two hundred thousand XP.”

“Good luck,” Ed said, with everyone echoing the sentiment or some variation of it. Everyone except Kira. She had not said a single word to me the entire time, nor did she look in my direction.

“Thanks,” I said and stepped forward, stopping at the corner. I took a deep breath. Just a few more steps and I would be in view of the projections. Another deep breath. Steeling my nerves. I took one step forward. Deep breath. Hesitant step forward. Deep breath. Step.

One more step and I would be in view of the projections. I closed my eyes, my right hand trembling. Another set back without a reward would be devastating. However, I had been brought back for some reason. The dungeon had been moved for some reason. Those reasons had to be connected.

I opened my eyes and with one last deep breath, I stepped forward.